For the Harry Potter book, see Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

The Philosopher's Stone is a compilation album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison released in 1998. The songs released on this 2-CD thirty track album were previously unreleased outtakes from 1970 to 1988. The album features twenty-five songs that had never been released and alternative renditions of "The Street Only Knew Your Name", "Wonderful Remark," "Real Real Gone," "Joyous Sound", "Flamingoes Fly" and "Bright Side of the Road". Three songs on the album were evidently intended for the unreleased album Mechanical Bliss, as "Twilight Zone", "Foggy Mountain Top" and "Flamingos Fly" were all mixed two decades before the others.

Van Morrison said about the previously unreleased songs:

It's hard to work out why you didn't put something out at the time. Usually it felt like it didn't fit....When I was with Warner Brothers they were very minimalist.

The Philosopher's Stone Volume One was originally scheduled to be released in July 1996. When it was released, it had been changed and "When I Deliver", "John Brown's Body" and "I'm Ready" were deleted.

Recording dates

Many of the recording dates on the album notes are incorrect according to Clinton Heylin. "Really Don't Know" was recorded in 1969, not 1971 as the musicians recording with him were only working with him in that particular year. Also tracks from "Wonderful Remark" to "Drumshanbo Hustle" were all recorded in 1972 not 1973, as well as "There There Child" recorded in 1972 not 1976. On disc two "John Henry" was supposed to have been recorded in 1977, but in fact was recorded two years earlier, as Morrison didn't actually record anything in 1977. "Crazy Jane on God" was recorded with Moving Hearts in 1983, as well as the recordings with the band on A Sense of Wonder, that recording date was even stated on the album itself, but the date on The Philosopher's Stone says this recording was from 1984.

Scott Thomas in the fan magazine Wavelength noted:

Everything about The Philosopher's Stone, from its format to its packaging to its song selection, seems designed to divorce the tracks from their historical milieu...When we open the package, there are no essays, no interviews, no archival photos — just lyrics (often incorrectly transcribed) and credits which include the year of the session.

Track listing

All songs credited to Van Morrison unless noted.Disc one

1. "Really Don't Know" – 3:37 (recorded in 1969)
2. "Ordinary People" – 5:20 (recorded in 1971)
3. "Wonderful Remark" – 8:01 (recorded in 1972)
4. "Not Supposed to Break Down" – 5:24 (recorded in 1972)
5. "Laughing in the Wind" – 4:10 (recorded in 1972)
6. "Madame Joy" – 4:23 (recorded in 1972)
7. "Contemplation Rose" – 5:15 (recorded in 1972)
8. "Don't Worry About Tomorrow" – 5:20 (recorded in 1972)
9. "4 O'Clock in the Morning (Try for Sleep)" - (Morrison, Platania) – 6:05 (recorded in 1972)
10. "Lover's Prayer" – 3:57 (recorded in 1972)
11. "Drumshanbo Hustle" – 4:48 (recorded in 1972)
12. "Twilight Zone" – 8:23 (recorded in 1974)
13. "Foggy Mountain Top" – 5:27 (recorded in 1974)
14. "Naked in the Jungle" – 4:36 (recorded in 1975)
15. "There There Child" - (Morrison, Platania) – 3:01 (recorded in 1972)

Disc two

1. "The Street Only Knew Your Name" – 6:25 (recorded in 1975)
2. "John Henry" - (Traditional) – 5:48 (recorded in 1975)
3. "Western Plain" - (Leadbelly, Lomax) – 5:42 (recorded in 1975)
4. "Joyous Sound" – 2:30 (recorded in 1975)
5. "I Have Finally Come to Realise" – 5:09 (recorded in 1975)
6. "Flamingos Fly" – 6:28 (recorded in 1974)
7. "Stepping Out Queen, Pt. 2" – 4:26 (recorded in 1979)
8. "Bright Side of the Road" – 4:02 (recorded in 1979)
9. "Street Theory" – 4:54 (recorded in 1980)
10. "Real Real Gone" – 3:45 (recorded in 1980)
11. "Showbusiness" – 9:21 (recorded in 1982)
12. "For Mr. Thomas" - (Williamson) – 4:15 (recorded in 1982)
13. "Crazy Jane on God" - (Mathieu, Yeats) – 4:05 (recorded in 1983 with Moving Hearts)
14. "Song of Being a Child" - (Handke, Morrison) – 4:09 (recorded in 1987)
15. "High Spirits" - (Moloney, Morrison) – 4:21 (recorded in 1988 with The Chieftains)

Personnel

• Van Morrison - vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, harmonica, saxophone
• June Boyce - vocals
• Ronnie Montrose - guitar, background vocals on "Wonderful Remark" and "Ordinary People"
• John Blakey, John Platania, Mick Cox, Chris Michie - guitar
• Herbie Armstrong - rhythm guitar
• Toni Marcus - violin
• Jules Broussard - flute, tenor saxophone
• "Boots" Rolf Houston - flute
• Jack Schroer - alto and baritone saxophones
• Collin Tilton, Pee Wee Ellis - tenor saxophone
• Bill Atwood - trumpet
• Mark Isham - trumpet, flugelhorn, synthesizers
• John Allair - piano, organ
• Jeff Labes, Mark Jordan, Pete Wingfield - piano
• Smith Dobson - piano, electric piano
• Bernie Krause - moog synthesizer
• John Klingberg, Bill Church, David Hayes, Jerome Rimson, Clive Culbertson - bass
• Gary Mallaber, Connie Kay, Lee Charlton, Dahaud Shaar, Rick Schlosser, Peter Van Hooke, Tony Day, Tom Donlinger, Roy Jones, Dave Early - drums
• Jackie DeShannon, Judy Clay, Bianca Thornton, Pauline Lazano, Annie Stocking - background vocals
• Neil Drinkwater - keyboards
• The Chieftains, Moving Hearts - bands

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1998	The Billboard 200	87

Notes

References

• Heylin, Clinton (2003). Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography, Chicago Review Press ISBN 1-55652-542-7

External links

• Lyrics and Audio Samples 1990s, The Philosopher's Stone